Peach mini-pies

As I mentioned in the Canmore/Golden post, we bought several 20-pound boxes of peaches (and other fruit!) from some friends of ours. They're delicious, ripe, juicy... but there's a LOT of them. We sold a few boxes to family and friends, but the rest is ours!

My family may be a group of 6 hungry peachavores, but there are only so many that we can eat out of hand or on oatmeal. We make plenty of peach jam, of course, but my awesome littlest sister and I had some different plans...

peach jam

I might have mentioned that my 7-year-old sister LOVES pie. Awhile back, I showed her Lolo's Blueberry Hand Pies, and she insisted that we try something like that.

Anyways, and so I present to you... Peach Mini-Pies! Sugar-free, super-easy, and my very omni dad & brother both loved these. 'Nuff said.

Pastry:
2 3/4 cups unbleached flour, sifted ***I'm going to try whole-wheat pastry flour next time for nutrition's sake
1/2 teaspoon salt, or just a dash
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup soymilk (or other nondairy milk)

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Right in the measuring cup, mix the oil and soymilk well. Add to flour, form into a dough, and shape into balls. Refrigerate in plastic wrap for at least 15 minutes.

Easy peach filling:
2-3 medium peaches, diced. (Peeled or unpeeled)
Sprinkle of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice

Stir peaches and spices together gently. Taste a bit and adjust seasoning if necessary. Set aside.

^ I cut my peaches a bit too big, which is NOT GOOD. The mini pies could only hold about 3 chunks :/. Cut them small, mmkay?

Remove a ball of dough from the 'fridge and roll out until about .5cm thick (maybe 1/4 inch? I'm a metric girl).
Using a wide-rimmed glass, cut out 1-2 circles bigger than your muffin-holes. Stuff one nicely into each. You want enough 'wall' to be able to fit some filling in there.

Repeat until you've used about half of your dough, or until your muffin pan is full.
Prick each crust with a fork and pre-bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

Now, make the top crusts: roll out leftover dough, make circles slightly smaller than the other ones, and set aside. Remember to make little 'vent holes' to let the steam through when baking!

Drain excess liquid from peach filling (and drink!!). Fill each crust with filling, top with crust,and pinch down around the edges to keep it on. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes, or until baked through and golden brown.
Let cool a bit, remove from pan, and serve. I used a silicone muffin pan, so the removal part was super-easy.

I also tried making some like the VeganYumYum ones...

(That weird-looking pastry on the lower left in the first picture was a random mess I made with the leftover dough at the very end.. I'd had ENOUGH with all the rolling!)

Have fun with this recipe- use whatever filling you'd like, depending on what fruit is in season! And, enjoy. :)